Notions of luxury change but it’s quite clear where 21st-century luxury is heading — in the direction of the one-off, the bespoke, the special.
All sorts of posh global brands, from Prada and Louis Vuitton to Gucci and Armani, have perceived that it’s hard to go on persuading customers that they are buying into real luxury if what’s offered is available on shopping streets around the world. Which is why almost all the big luxury brands have started producing smaller, more precious collections or editions within the larger collections.
Some offer the customer a chance to customise the bag, belt or shoes or let him/her choose from ranges of colours and finishes, or they have limited editions of a few special lines or, as Prada does at its New York store, bring back some (again very small) retro collections of past glories.
It was only a matter of time before somebody took this concept to its logical conclusion: a store selling nothing but one-offs. Yes, I know that’s what vintage stores do, but this is a shop that deals not only in vintage (or, rather, reworked vintage) but also in the new. The shop, One, opens today at 30 Ledbury Road, London W11 (020-7221 5300).
Marcelle Symons, a partner with her sister, Diane Metta, in the hugely successful Paul & Joe boutiques in the UK, is the woman behind the shop. She decided to open it because she had observed at Paul & Joe that more customers were looking for very special pieces.
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About three years ago she started taking fine old broderie anglaise, lace, chiffons and raw silks and working them into original, one-off pieces of clothing — dresses, blouses, tops, cardigans, scarves. They were marketed under the Mamie label. Marcelle says: “They flew off the hangers as fast as they came in. Some of our customers even went so far as to leave their credit cards with us, saying ‘When something comes in that you think is my style, just put it aside and bill me’.”
Those seeking celeb endorsement might like to know that Claudia Schiffer wore a Mamie hat and scarf in Love Actually and that Natalie Portman, Elle Macpherson, Scarlett Johansson, Brittany Murphy and Kelly Brook are all fans.
Marcelle then began to think of her dream shop: “A shop where everything was a one-off — but not just clothing. It would take in everything from candles to chandeliers, from sofas and wallpaper to wonderful old ballgowns.” One is that dream come to life.
If you were to rush along today, on opening day, what might you find? To start with, there is a clothing range, each piece different. Boy George has designed some T-shirts. Stephanie Rutherford, who co-owns the boutique with Marcelle, has designed some one-off bags. There are also antique bags that have been given new life with distinctive handles. Prices for the evening bags will range from £100 to £150.
Under the Tania label there will be extraordinary silk and cashmere baby-doll dresses; and Amy Twigger has done some amazing jumpers with landscape pictures on the back formed from a combination of knitting, beading and embroidery. If you hurry, because some have already been sold, you can buy some extraordinary embroidered chairs. Marcelle bought these “dishevelled” objects at auction and has covered each one differently. There are small things (candles, for instance) and large (customised Minis) and a collection of Diane Metta’s one-off Scarletta jewellery pieces (above left).
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But the whole point of the shop is that you can never be sure what you’ll find. Marcelle says: “A lot will depend on what I happen to dig up.”
So, a shop full of surprises, then — something to keep an eye on in these strange, new retailing times.